LOS ANGELES—Former Sears employee, Alejandro Gamiz was convicted of four criminal counts on Friday, November 2 after being arrested in April by North Hollywood Area Sexual Assault Detectives for placing hidden cameras in the fitting rooms and bathroom at the North Hollywood Sears located at
12121 Victory Boulevard.

Gamiz secretly placed motion sensor cameras that filmed both employees and patrons during store hours. He would download these videos during his after-hours shift. Gamiz was sentenced to one year in the county jail, one year in a psychiatric rehabilitation program, and three years of summary probation under which he cannot have access to a computer, camera, or the Internet for any reason.

Former Sears’s employee, Krystal Dean was one of three employees looking to sue Sears, claiming that Sears knew about the filming for up to four months before notifying their employees and the police. In the pending suit, she is also suing for retaliation, stating that Sears cut her hours after being the first employee to hire an attorney and speak to the press.

According to the employees’ attorney, Michael Adler, “There’s a lot of people who were patrons and don’t have any idea that they’ve been videotaped”. As of June 2012, 13 more female employees came forward to pursue a lawsuit against Sears, along with 8 customers.